Field facility adds 35 beds to Falmouth Hospital

WESTERN BUREAU:

The $200-million, 35-bedroom field hospital on the Falmouth Hospital compound is complete and doctors have welcomed the addition to enhance patient-care services.

Chairman of the hospital, Ken Grant, divulged the information concerning the status of the field hospital which was built to increase the bed-space for patients, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There has been no COVID-19 patient at the hospital for some time now,” Grant explained, noting that the space will now be used for other patients.

“The decision was taken to house female medical patients,” he said, adding that “because of how the building is constructed with different sections, we are looking into the possibility of housing patients with mild mental issues”.

Dr Leighton Perrins, senior medical officer (SMO), welcomed the fact that beds are now available.

“We are happy to be able to use the ward. Presently, our overall patient number is 89. No longer will patients have to sit on chairs as they wait for a bed to become available,” disclosed Perrins, who further informed that the Falmouth Hospital will be adding to the 24 doctors on staff.

“Very shortly, the doctors staff will be further uplifted with the addition of a female physiotherapist,” said the SMO.

At the height of COVID-19 in 2021, it became necessary for the field hospital to be built. It was a gif from the Pan American Health Organisation.

Along the way, two 220-pound oxygen tanks were installed, increasing the capacity of the hospital to take care of patients with respiratory problems.

Grant expressed pleasure at seeing the bed count reach its present number.

“When it was built in 1954, the capacity was 50 beds. Since 2017, we have benefited from the effects the noxious fumes had on Cornwall Regional Hospital (CRH), when it became necessary to build more beds to serve patients transferred from the CRH,” he shared. “It is now time for the hospital to be designated a Type B [facility]”.